6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (13 Feb - Results & Review)
2. The Threat Is Gone
Sorry, but Aleister Black’s foreboding, threatening promos are hitting Wyatt Sicks territory now. He says a lot of things without coming through on them. Even when he did take the fight to Damian Priest, he lost their blowoff ‘Ambulance Match’, so why he was prattling on about Randy Orton after losing last week’s Elimination Chamber qualifier is anyone’s guess. It just has to be said: WWE doesn’t know what to do with Black.
They either acknowledge him as a midcarder or don’t. This creative purgatory and middle ground he’s constantly stuck in is jarring when he’s making grandiose promises about being a big shot without ever living up to that. One minute, the promotion decides they want to push him. The next? He's reduced to doing this sort of thing - talking a lot then getting his teeth knocked down his throat before coming back for more.
It's tedious as all hell by this point, and WWE's booking style with guys like Al makes it impossible to properly invest in anything they're doing on programming. As the subheading says, the threat really is gone with him. The bloom is off the rose, the horse has bolted. There are so many variations on the same theme, which is ironic given how he does the same stuff over and over again without building too much momentum.
This promo is clearly building towards a singles loss to Randy so Orton has that momentum Black craves heading into Chamber. It'll be a solid match, but Aleister needs so much more than that right now.